Ladies, y’all got style! When we announced our First Ever Pinterest Contest a few weeks ago, we we thrilled to see the huge response! It was extremely difficult narrowing down the entries to three lucky ladies, but we managed to do it!

Justine’s Country Lush board was full of some rustic but feminine details. Alexandra’s Black Tie with Blue board was sophisticated and elegant and Lisa’s Peaches board was full of the sweet Georgia fruit we love so much. We adore all of our finalists for different reasons, but in the end, y’all went crazy for Lisa’s Peaches board!

Congratulations, Lisa, for winning our first ever Pinterest contest!

Lisa will win a clutch from our friend McKay at Oatmeal Lace Design! When we took a look at the flower details and sweet textures on Lisa’s board, we knew that an Oatmeal Lace clutch would go splendidly with her vision, and we can’t wait for her to choose one!

Thanks to all who participated in our contest, and especially to our friends at Ties.com and Sweet and Saucy Supply for offering their fab products to our finalists!

Welcome to the next installment of our Southern Hospitality feature! Each month, we pick a Southern city and an expert host. Our host shares their favorite items custom to that city that would be perfect packed into a welcome bag for family and friends at a weekend wedding. There’s nothing like Southern hospitality, especially at a destination wedding!

This month, we chose to feature Asheville, the largest city in Western North Carolina and truly a unique city. I’ve been lucky enough to visit multiple times, experiencing everything from walking around downtown to visiting the Biltmore to cheering at an The Avett Brothers concert on New Year’s. But the last time I visited Asheville was in February, when I was staying nearby to review a Honey List destination. You can read more here!

Once we decided to feature Asheville, we knew we had to ask our friends, Melissa and Becca of Asheville Event Company, to be our experts. I know you’ll enjoy their picks! Having a wedding in Asheville? Let us know in the comments below!

A. Tupelo Honey Cookbook. Tupelo Honey is one of the most popular restaurants in town and this cookbook features all their favorite recipes for good ole’ southern cuisine. ($34.94)

B. Gift certificate to 12 Bones. They arguably have the best BBQ in town and maybe in the Southeast. President Obama has stopped by twice to sample their tasty treats. The blueberry chipotle sauce is a must try! (price varies)

C. Locally grown honey from Sweet Betty Bee’s farm. Need I say any more? ($72.00 per case of 24 1.5 oz. jars)

D. Go Local gear. Asheville supports a strong climate of buying local and staying local. Go local, love Asheville t-shirts are the perfect way to embrace Asheville’s culture. (price varies)

E. Biltmore Estate tickets and a bottle of their wonderful wine! Explore George Vanderbilt’s extraordinary home, beautiful gardens, and Antler Hill Village & Winery while you are in Asheville! (price varies)

F. Gaelic Ale Mustard from Crooked Condiments. A smooth, thick mustard with a touch of heat and a touch of sweet featuring Asheville’s very own Highland Gaelic Ale. ($3.95 for 4 oz.)

G. Beer! Asheville has earned the title of “Beer City USA” for three years in a row. With fourteen breweries located in the region, beer is the perfect gift to include in your guest tote. The first brewery in Asheville was Highland Brewery. Try their Gaelic Ale or one of their many seasonal beers. Or, if you love beer so much that you want to experience all that Asheville has to offer, try the Asheville Brews Cruise. (price varies)

H. Apple. Western North Carolina is home to a large crop of apple growers. Enjoy one of our delicious varieties of apples in your welcome bag. (price varies)

I. French Broad Chocolates. Who doesn’t love chocolate? French Broad Chocolates quickly became one of the hottest downtown spots pairing a love for chocolate and their lounge. They are world famous for the truffles! (price varies)

J. Asheville area notecards by local artist, Jeff Pittman. Write individual notes to each of your guests or give each of them a set to include in their welcome gift. ($25.00 for pack of 10)

We paired our experts’ picks with this cool design from Mink Letterpress. Want a tote of your own? Simply download the PDF here and take it to your local screenprinter. Thanks, Nicole!

From the Asheville area and have additional suggestions to add to our tote? What did you love about Asheville if you’ve visited before? Have a city in mind for future posts? Comment below and let us know!

Check out past totes:
Nashville
Atlanta
Austin
Richmond
Emerald Coast
Charleston
Chapel Hill

The Kentucky Derby is this weekend! Before you run off to dig out your largest sunhat and pluck some fresh mint leaves, sit back for a minute and soak in some run for the roses inspiration.

Vintage trophy cups, a brilliant red rose bouquet, chilled mint juleps, a merry Sperry tent set next to the racetrack… I’d say this is beautiful inspiration for a Southern wedding!

Credits:

Red rose bouquet photo by Ali Harper, vintage trophy cups photo by Heather Bullard, white hydrangea photo by Adam Barnes via Southern Weddings, tent photo by Jen Fariello via Style Me Pretty, red rose door from flickr, horse garland photo by Desi Baytan via Inspired by This on Lover.ly, red rose boutonniere photo by Ali Harper, elegant picnic lunch spread via Martha Stewart Weddings

P.S. Love the Derby? Stay tuned, because we have more posts coming your way this week! In the meantime, check out last year’s Derby inspiration boards:
Traditional
Whimsical

Ali Harper and Adam Barnes are fabulous members of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

Do you remember when you were little and didn’t understand why adults talked so much about weather? What’s so interesting about the forecast? Now, I talk about weather all the time and routinely check my iPhone for an hour-by-hour report (that’s not too much, right?). We’re smack in the middle of some April showers at the moment and though we didn’t expect yesterday’s thunderstorm, I’m grateful it’s washing off the pollen from my car. Who else can’t wait for May flowers?

We’re not trying push spring aside, but we do love the summery freshness of Emily’s Key Lime Pie inspiration board. Refreshing, no?

We just love that our intern, Anna shared her experience at the Old South Ball, Kappa Alpha’s fraternity formal. She rocked a hoop skirt and all!

April’s Southern Bride of the Month, Elizabeth wants her wedding to feel like a garden by the ocean. We love her vision and Marissa loves her Alabama roots!

Y’all this is big news. We’re giving away a photography package from Maile Lani!! Check out this post for details on how to enter — you don’t want to miss this one!

Emily’s told us all about the venues and the rentals for her wedding earlier. This week, we got to see it come together as she shared her vision for her reception style.

Emily’s Southern Spotting is always so adorable! We love these muslin biscuit bags that are tagged with the bride’s grandmother’s recipe.

Marissa’s already married, but you know that wouldn’t stop us from dreaming up some bridal shower inspiration for her! See what Sierra put together here.

This week’s featured Real Wedding Gallery is Whitney + John! Their mountain wedding was complete with touches from family and friends and, of course, that good ole Southern barbecue.

Real Weddings are the bees knees!

Callie + Paul’s wedding was full of handmade touches that brought the event together in a beautiful way. See it here.

Elizabeth + Alex’s Lowndes Grove wedding is timeless Southern perfection. See it here.

Happy News!

We added some fab new members to our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory this week! Say howdy to 2BSquared Designs, Ashton Events, The Barn at Twin Oaks Ranch, Blueberry Fusion, Creative Films KC, Designs in Paper, Greer G Photography, Jessica Sloane Event Styling & Design and Mike Varel!

We’re so happy to announce that we’ve partnered with the visual search engine Lover.ly! Now you’ll be able to find your favorite Southern ideas and details in a search engine catered to weddings.

We’re all about personalization here at Southern Weddings. That’s why we love Sandal’s new Destination Wedding Experience. With the help of their online wedding portal, you can customize your destination wedding. This feature will launch on June 14 at Grand Central Station’s Vanderbilt Hall, complete with a travel agent expo and guest emcee Randy Fenoli! Learn more here.

Have a wonderful weekend, my dears! Have any fun plans? Tell us below!

Welcome back to our current “Sit a Spell” series, where the Southern Weddings gals have been taking turns designing bridal showers for each other! As I’m sure you already know, Marissa‘s already married to her college sweetheart, but I couldn’t resist creating a second dream bridal shower for her to invite all those baseball wives to!

One thing you should know about Marissa is she is one fashionable Southern gal from Alabama! While I almost went with a full out Lilly Pulitzer themed shower (did any of y’all have one?), I chose a “Lazy Afternoon” theme, inspired by a sorority event we have each semester in which you don your best sundress and cowboy boots to shag dance the whole afternoon. It really is a lot of fun!

Marissa’s preppy outdoor party is complete with pink (her favorite color), bows, doilies, mason jars, monograms and yummy biscuits!

Image credits Row 1: Heidi Geldhauser of Our Labor of Love via Southern Weddings, via Suzie Beezie, via Carolina Prep, Row 2: Untamed Heart Photography via Elizabeth Anne Designs, Engraved Key Chain via Lime Tree Gifts, Row 3: Armen Atoyan via Buzznet, via A Cup of Mai, Jose Villa via Southern Weddings

While eating brunch and sipping on delicious drinks, guests would play “Bridal Bingo,” where you either had spots on the board with phrases like “elementary school friend” or “college roommate” that give you more information about how each person knows Marissa (which could prompt fun stories), or you could just have a board with wedding terms like “bouquet.” The winner would get a Lilly Pulitzer gift such as pencils or a mug.

We would collect recipes from each guest to put on cards and then turn into a little recipe book (my friends did this at a recent shower, and it was adorable!). No lazy afternoon would be complete without music, so there would be music playing, and we’ll play a few rounds of “name that tune” with an iTunes gift card for the winner. You could even have each guest submit a song for Marissa and put a CD together to give her.

Guests will take home these monogramed engraved keychains (a friend gave me one with a Carolina blue bow, and I love it!) and a boxed cupcake for the road.

Get to know more about Marissa here and here!

If you’ve already had a bridal shower, what was it like? What would your dream bridal shower look like?

View past Sit a Spell’s:
A Dreamy Garden Soiree for Whitney as imagined by Nicole
A Romantic Florida Shower for Lara as imagined by Whitney
A Nautical Shower for Emily as imagined by Lara
A Sparkly Emerald Shower for Sierra as imagined by Emily

P.S. Keep your eyes peeled for the next post in our shower series, where Marissa will dream up a bridal shower for Nicole!